Ross Stripling Helps His Own Cause as Dodgers Defeat D-backs 5-2

Dress for less.

Ross Stripling knocked in his first career run and recorded the victory as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-2, on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. 

In his 14^th career start, Stripling (4-6) scattered three hits, surrendering just two runs with five strikeouts and no walks in five solid innings as the first-place Dodgers won their fourth straight game.

"To get some early runs today was really nice," Stripling said of his start. "It changes your mentality a little bit. You don't want to give them any momentum and I was able to step on the gas there and keep it all on our side."

A.J. Pollock smashed a slider from Stripling into the left field pavilion to start the game for the Diamondbacks, but the rookie right-hander settled down and retired the next seven batters he faced.

"I laid a cookie in there 3-2 and he was all over it," Stripling said of the pitch he served to Pollock. "After that you naturally focus in because you're mad. It's not a good way to focus in, but I'd say that's what happened."

Stripling helped his own cause when he picked up his first career RBI with a go-ahead single in the second inning.

"Shelby Miller was supposed to be an Aggie [Texas A&M], so it's funny my first hit was off Wacha and my first RBI is off Shelby who I've known for a while too. Maybe I can only hit off Aggies," joked Stripling. "He throws hard. I felt like I saw it and was on it, but was barely able to squeak it past the bag."

The boys in blue broke the game open with five hits in the third inning as the Dodgers hung three runs on Snakes starter Shelby Miller.

Miller (2-11) continued his downward spiral this season allowing five runs (four earned) on 11 hits with just two strikeouts in 4 and 1/3 innings.

"I thought I made some pretty good pitches, but they were agressive right out of the gate," Miller said of his start. "They found some gaps today. All in all, I'm struggling with the loss a little bit. I'm just tired of losing."

Miller broke into the league with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012 and posted a 1.32 ERA in six games with the Red Birds. He followed that up with two solid campaigns before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Jason Heyward in 2015 and quickly became the ace of the Braves staff last season.

But 2016 has been a disaster for Miller after he was traded in the offseason to the Diamondbacks for 2015 No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson. Miller has won just two games this season, posting a career-worst 6.89 ERA, amid a midseason demotion to the minor leagues.

Miller was recalled last week when rosters expanded and will likely have the remainder of the season to work through his mechanical issues if he hopes to have any resurgence with Arizona next season. 

"I'm not worried about my stuff, I'm more worried about the outcome," Miller said of his mindset since returning to the Majors. "I just want to go out there and give our team an opportunity to win every time. It's been a frustrating year."

Josh Reddick had another solid game for the Dodgers as he appears to have broken out of his post-trade slump with his new club. Reddick went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and is hitting .381 in his last seven games.

"I always said I was going to come out of it, it was just about sticking with your routine, getting pitches to hit and finding holes," Reddick said of breaking out of his slump. "These guys did a great job of welcoming me in, but I still felt out of place. I'm still trying to learn a lot of new guys, but I'll keep working on it and hopefully growing a lot more comfortable as the days go by."

Andrew Toles started in left field for Los Angeles and continued his hot-hitting as the speedster finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Since he was recalled from Triple-A OKC on Aug. 21, Toles is batting .500 with three home runs and 14 RBI. 

Corey Seager and Justin Turner each had mulit-hit games and scored the other three runs for the Dodgers. Seager has feasted on the Snakes pitching this season batting .350 with 12 doubles, five homers and 15 RBI in 20 games.

Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 42nd save of the season as Los Angeles remained four games ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. 

Players of the Game:

Ross Stripling: 1^st career RBI and 4^th win of season.
Josh Reddick: 2-for-3 with RBI and run scored.
Andrew Toles: 2-for-3 with RBI and run scored.

Three Takeaways:

1. Cut Off the Head of the Snake: The Los Angeles Dodgers have won 10 consecutive series against the Diamondbacks at home and haven't dropped a set since June 10-12 of 2013. Overall, they are 23-7 at Dodger Stadium against the D-Backs. 

#Dodgers are unbeaten at home in last 10 series against #Snakes. Last lost a set in June of 2013. 23-7 overall. — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) September 7, 2016

2. Reddick Can Rake: Josh Reddick has busted out of his post-trade slump and has hit safely in six consecutive games. He's batting .500 with a double, home run and three RBI over that span. 

Josh Reddick being productive is something I can get used to. — Vincent Samperio (@VinceSamperio) September 7, 2016

3. For Whom The Bell Toles: Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles is batting .500 with three home runs and 14 RBI since he was recalled from Triple-A OKC on Aug. 21st. His OPS of 1.124 through his first 30 games is the second most in Dodgers franchise history besides known other than Yasiel Puig.

Highest OPS, first 30 career games (Dodgers)
1. Yasiel Puig 1.155
2. Andrew Toles 1.124 (28 1/3 games) — Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 7, 2016

Up Next:

Diamondbacks (58-80): Left-hander Robbie Ray rolls into the finale on Wednesday.

Dodgers (78-60): Rookie Brock Stewart completes a string of four consecutive rookie starters when he heads to the mound on Wednesday at 7:10PM PST.